


Not Forever, But Memories

by WhyWhyNot



Series: Unrelated Worm One Shots [8]
Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Bittersweet, Gen, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29152221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyWhyNot/pseuds/WhyWhyNot
Summary: The first time Joshua kisses Colin, they just fought Behemoth.
Relationships: Colin Wallis | Armsmaster | Defiant/Chevalier (Parahumans)
Series: Unrelated Worm One Shots [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871626
Kudos: 8





	Not Forever, But Memories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gerbilfriend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerbilfriend/gifts).



The first time Joshua kisses Colin, they just fought Behemoth.

They’re alive. They made it. Through the chaos, through the earth shaking and the lightning strikes and the people dying around them.

People call it the Hero Killer.

They're alive. They made it, and Colin is _right there_.

The metal of their armors grates uncomfortably against each other, and the kiss tastes like blood from Colin’s split lip.

They’re alive.

It becomes something of a ritual between them, to spend the night together after a brush with death. 

They don’t live together. They don’t even live in the same city, most of the time, Colin’s strike squad moving across the country, following the last problem to pop up.

They still see each other, though, when something happens that needs all hands on deck, or when things calm down long enough for Colin to spend a few days with him, first in New York, then in Philadelphia. 

They talk. About the last fight, and the next, and the progresses they have made and the mistakes to avoid, and it feels nice. Joshua is still Chevalier, Colin is still Armsmaster, but they’re not alone. 

They’re alive.

They might not survive the next fight, but at least, they made it through this one.

Not everyone is as lucky as they are.

They’re standing in the wreckage after a Leviathan attack, knee-deep in seawater and trying not to think about how the civilians must have felt as they saw the waves coming, too fast for them to reach the shelters. 

There are dead bodies in the water. Heroes. Villains. Children. 

“I want to kill one of them,” Colin says. “The Endbringers. I want them to die, and I want to kill them myself.” 

Joshua doesn’t know what to say to that.

Colin is sent to Brockton Bay to lead the local Protectorate team, and they start to see each other less, both kept in place by their responsibilities.

They call each other instead.

It’s not the same.

They still see each other at Endbringer fights, or when something happens and all hands on deck are needed. They still care about each other.

Colin still calls.

Sometimes.

They just fought Behemoth when Joshua realizes he hasn’t talked to Colin in over two months.

Oh.

It’s over, isn’t it ?

Joshua bit the inside of his mouth during the fight.

He tastes blood.


End file.
